Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (DS game)
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole is a video game made by Warner Bros interactive Entertainment and Tantalus Media for Nintendo DS/DSi/DSiXL based on the film of the same name. The game takes place at the same time the movie does. It focuses on a young owl named Shard, who embarks on a journey across the world of Ga'Hoole to uncover the truth about the evil Pure Ones and stop their plans. For the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360/Live version of the game by Krome Studios, see this article. Plot In the intro narration, the Glauxian monk Grettir is on watch when hagsfiends attack the Perrock Monastery. He is one of the few who escaped, and was branded as a coward for his failure to fight back against the hagsfiends. He settles down with a mate, Lygeia, and they have an egg together. Their hollow is soon attacked by Pure Ones, killing the two Barn Owls and nearly shattering their egg before the Guardians of Ga'Hoole swoop in and save it. The egg hatches and the Guardians name him Shard, then take him back to the Great Tree to raise him up to be a Guardian himself. Many years later, the Search-and-Rescue Chaw ryb, Allomere, is led by one of his students, a Short-Eared Owl named Parzival, to another student skipping class to read in the library. This student is Shard, who is quickly reprimanded for his behavior by the ryb. The librarian and ryb of the Weather Chaw, Ezylryb, defends Shard, but ends up giving him a flint mop to appease Allomere. The flint mop consists of flight practice and cleaning up fallen branches around the tree, which serves as a tutorial for the player. Ezylryb then instructs Shard to fly into a gutter and try to maintain his speed. After returning from this task, he is met by Boron who tells of a group of owlets heading for the Great Tree. Shard is asked to assist in rescuing them, so he must fly out and collect each of the four owls of The Band: Soren, Digger, Gylfie, and Twilight. They are all guided through the storm and delivered to the infirmary. The Band is later spoken to in the Parliament, and they tell about the activity of the Pure Ones in the St. Aegolius Canyons, where owlets are being forced to pick pellets for metallic flecks. Soren also informs the Guardians that the Pure Ones are burning down the Tyto Forest. Allomere is sent with a small team of owls to investigate the Canyonlands. Ezylryb later calls Shard and Parzival in for a meeting, and assigns them a mission to investigate the activity in Tyto Forest. He expresses his distrust of Allomere's capabilities, and puts his faith in his students instead, giving each of them a set of battle claws and helmet. Upon arrival in Tyto Forest, Shard and Parzival search among the flames for any sign of life, until they find a part of the forest that is still alive and well. There, they come across Bryony and many other trapped members of the Resistance, a group of owls fighting against the Pure Ones in Tyto, guarded by Pure One soldiers. Shard and Parzival hesitate as they have never been in a real battle before, so Bryony calls out to them to guide them through combat. This enters the player into the combat tutorial. Once the Pure Ones are defeated and the Resistance members rescued, Bryony is approached by the Great Gray Owl Nebulosa, a fellow Resistance member. She informs Bryony that their Search-and-Rescue Chaw had not yet returned, and that the owlets of the Resistance were still being held in Pure One captivity. Shard is tasked with helping to retrieve them. After two rescues and battles with Pure Ones, an Elf Owl Resistance member, Romalia, approaches Shard to see if he had rescued her owlet. Unfortunately, her owlet was not among the rescued ones, so Shard decides to assist Romalia, flying into the forest fire to get her child back. Once the owlet is rescued, Romalia states how there was another owl in need of rescuing, so Shard sends Parzival to return the owlet while he goes on to further investigate. Shard locates the Resistance member Corrso, imprisoned and guarded by Pure Ones. He frees him, and takes him back to the headquarters, where he explains that the Pure Ones are headed for the Resistance headquarters with intention to destroy it with fire. Bryony tells Nebulosa to gather the Water Chaw. Shard goes off to protect the chaw, successfully allowing them to put out the fires. After fighting off the Pure Ones, Shard is confronted by Kludd, who engages him in combat. Shard chases him through the burnt forest, avoiding flaming rope traps along the way until he manages to beat Kludd, with him escaping before the final blow and saying that he will win next time they meet. After regrouping, Bryony thanks Shard for his help, then informs him that while she was a Pure One captive, she overheard them referring to an ally they called "The Guardian." She believes that there may be a traitor in the Great Tree, and tells Shard to watch his tailfeathers. Nebulosa then steps forward and questions about whether or not the Pure Ones are reigning terror in a similar manner across the other kingdoms, and offers to come with Shard and Parzival as another wingman. The three owls return to the Great Tree, where they relay the events of the mission to Ezylryb. In return, he tells them about how his slipgizzle, a Guardian spy named Streak, has suddenly ceased contact with the Great Tree. He tasks the group with investigating his disappearance in Kuneer. Once they arrive in Kuneer, they find a trail of torches leading to a cave. This is suspicious, as the Elf and Burrowing Owls who live in the desert tend to not light fires. Upon further investigation, they are promptly attacked by bats and have to fight them off. Shard and his group later encounters a group of bats protecting a caged prisoner, and free him with hot coals. This turns out to be Streak, the slipgizzle, and he tells them about owlets who are in need of rescuing. more coming soon! Gameplay FLIGHT The player can control Shard's flight in a 3rd dimensional view by dragging the stylus across the touchscreen of the DS. Pressing any button will reverse his direction. COLLECTING OBJECTS To collect a Quest Object, the player must fly close to it and wait for the Target Marker to turn yellow before tapping it. Objects can be dropped by tapping a place with a green marker. Health Refills have a blue target marker, and collecting them will store them in your Inventory Bag, which can be accessed through the bag in the lower left corner. COMBAT To enter combat with an enemy, the player must approach them and tap on them when the target marker turns red. If the player gets too close to an enemy, they will automatically enter combat. Entering combat will take you into a Battle Instance: a different game mode with an overhead view rather than a 3rd person view. In the instance, Shard can be controlled by dragging the stylus around the touchscreen, and enemies are attacked by swiping quickly across them. A Spin Attack can be performed by drawing circles around Shard with the stylus, which will knock back the enemies and cause minor damage. To Block, any button can be pressed. It is best to block when a red target marker appears around the enemy, but the direction of the block does not matter. If an attack is not blocked, Shard will lose heath. The player can use collected health refills from their Inventory Bag in the lower left corner in order to restore Shard's health. Losing all of your health will result in mission failure, then being sent to the last Checkpoint. PROWESS Successful attacks and blocks will gain prowess, and when the Prowess Meter is full Shard can use one of four Prowess Moves. These can be used by tapping the Prowess Meter in the top right corner, then swiping up, down, left, or right. Each direction will give a different move: Super Strike To perform Super Strike, swipe right. Shard will speed towards the enemy and take several swift jabs at them. Upgrading this attack will increase the damage and amount of hits Shard can land. Spin Throw To perform Spin Throw, swipe left. Shard will grab the enemy and toss them aggressively. The first upgrade for this attack will increase damage and add area damage on impact. Charge To perform Charge, swipe down. Shard will speed towards the enemy and headbutt them. The first upgrade for this attack will increase damage and add a stun effect. The second increases damage and adds a ricochet. Aerial Slam To perform Aerial Slam, swipe up. Shard will swoop down on the enemy with force. The first upgrade for this attack will increase damage and add a knockback effect. The second only increases damage. All attacks can be upgraded twice, using Training Points that are obtained each time the player levels up. GUTTERS When Shard encounters a gutter air current, the player will enter a minigame-like instance, where they must maneuver through a tunnel of wind. To gain speed, the player must use the stylus on the touchscreen to move Shard towards the air current circles. If Shard slows down too much, he will fall behind and the mission will be failed. Lightning obstacles must be avoided, since they will slow Shard down when hit. WINGMEN Wingmen serve to give Shard extra boosts in battle. Parzival This wingman is your long-time rival, and although arrogant and disrespectful, must assist you on your missions. He allows you to have another inventory slot for health refills. Nebulosa As a member of the Resistance in Tyto Forest, she will do anything to attempt to bring peace to the Owl Kingdoms. She increases the rate at which your Prowess Meter fills. ENEMIES Pure One Soldiers Basic Barn Owl enemies in the Tyto Forest that usually come in small groups. Flying Foxes Large bats of Kuneer with strong attacks and more health than the vampire bats that work with them. A hit from one can release Shard from being stunned by the vampire bats. Vampire Bats Small bats of Kuneer that are weak, but have a deadly bite that can stun Shard in place. He will remain stunned until either his health is depleted, or a flying fox delivers a blow. It is recommended to take these enemies out first when fighting bats, because if they manage to stun Shard when there are no more flying foxes, it is a guaranteed death. Trivia * There are many differences in the main storyline, characters, and gameplay style between the console game and the DS game. This is most likely due to the games being made by separate studios, and possible miscommunication between the two teams.